[ad_1]
It is one of the darkest moments in modern Greek history. It is the moment when the Cyprus In essence, but also formally, it is left to the appetites of “Attila”. The junta’s decision to withdraw the Greek division from the continent is the most horrible of crimes committed by the dictatorial regime.
It is an act of total treason. An act for which not even seven-year-old defenders can articulate an elementary contradiction.
And what to say, after all, when he himself dictator Papadopoulos he has admitted that the pressure he received from the United States to withdraw the Greek division from Cyprus was great and he was unable to do anything;
That seems to be the board’s hyperpatriotism. Those who otherwise defended the homeland and did not raise a fly on their sword could ultimately only torture people in security detention centers and on the Xeron Islands. In the face of American pressure, they raised their … hands up.
When was the Greek division established in Cyprus?
The story essentially begins with the establishment of the independent Cypriot state in 1960, with the Zurich and London agreements. The guarantor powers are Greece, Turkey and Brittany.
The agreements establish in detail the way of governing the island and, especially, the rights and obligations of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot parties. Regarding the military part, it was decided that the Republic of Cyprus would have an army of two thousand men, of which 60% would be Greek Cypriots and 40% Turkish Cypriots. Initially on the island the ELDYK and TOURDYK, with a force of 950 and 650 men respectively.
However, from the beginning it seemed that things between the two communities were not working properly and there was no hope that they would work satisfactorily at some point in the future.
Makarios (who essentially falls into the trap of the British) proposes 13 points of revision of the Constitution and provokes a strong reaction from the Turkish Cypriot side. It was the moment when the fuse of rapid developments was lit.
At the same time in Athens his new government George Papandreou monitors what is happening in Cyprus.
The critical date is December 21, 1963, when the Greek side, which has information that the Turkish Cypriots in Nicosia are exchanging arms with their compatriots outside of it, begins to control the suspects. One of these controls does not end well because the Turkish Cypriots refuse, two of them fall dead and thus start the armed incidents that in a few days take on great proportions.
TOURDYK leaves his camp to defend the Turkish Cypriots but occupies strategic points, not by chance as will be shown years later with “Attila 1”. The episodes last until December 28, when they end with the intervention of the guarantor forces. It is then that what we know today as the “green zone” in Nicosia and the UN presence on the island is permanent. Basically, we are talking about an informal first division τυ of the island.
In Athens, the Papandreou government considers this all to be a test of an invasion of Turkey and decides to send a division of 8,500 men to Cyprus.
Theoretically, this mission was carried out; secretly, however, it met with the approval of the United States and Great Britain, who did not take kindly to the close relations that Makarios had begun to develop with the United States. USSR and I wanted to send you a “message”.
The “Kofinou operation” inspired by the junta
From then on, the balances had grown even more fragile. The episodes between the two sides were frequent and bloody. These had provoked the reaction of then-US President Lyndon Johnson, who, fearing the USSR’s involvement in the Cyprus issue, appointed Undersecretary of Defense Cyrus Vance as a special envoy and handed him a blank check to handle the matter.
In the meantime Hellas the junta has overthrown the democratic regime and seized power.
In November 1967 a new outbreak of tension was created on the island, this time in the town of Kofinou, southwest of Larnaca. There, a small paramilitary group of Turkish Cypriots tried to control the main road. The response from the Greek Cypriot side was immediate, harsh and disproportionate. After low intensity armed incidents, take action General Grivas invading the Turkish Cypriot enclave with great military force. In December 1986, during a debate on the infamous “Cyprus Dossier” in Parliament, then-Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou said:
“That operation (of Kofinou), was ordered by the Hellenic Armed Forces Headquarters, by the Greek General Staff and was directed literally every day from Athens. Makarios and the government of Cyprus were completely ignorant. It was a great challenge. for Turkey. There were massacres and looting. Makarios protested that his government had been overthrown. But when the National Guard evacuated the villages of Kofinou and Agioi Theodoroi, the junta’s propaganda cleverly blamed Blessed».
For his part, Konstantinos Mitsotakis had emphasized in his own position: “And the drama of the Kofinou episodes followed, which were correctly described by the prime minister. I would add that perhaps it was the reaction of the dictatorship and Spantidakis, who wanted to move the case vigorously after the defeat they had suffered (in the Evros talks in September 1967) and the humiliation of the Turks and thus created the episodes. Kofinou, who gave the Turks a chance to blackmail. And they successfully blackmailed. It is an aspect that must be investigated because that is where the tragedy of Cyprus begins for me ”.
The treacherous Papadopoulos-Tsaglagil deal
After what happened dramatically, the Turks point the finger at the trigger and threaten everyone and everything. They demand the withdrawal of the Greek military forces from Cyprus. At the same time, Grivas takes the plane (without return) to Athens and Cyrus Vance the corresponding one to Ankara where he tries to avoid a Greco-Turkish war that seems more likely than ever.
There he learns that the American ambassador to Turkeytogether with Turkish Foreign Minister Ihsan Caglagil, they have drawn up an agreement that includes only Ankara’s positions.
Vans would take this text to Athens and negotiate it with the Greek Foreign Minister (diplomat and former interim prime minister) Panagiotis Pipinelis, who passed it on to the coup leader Papadopoulos. The board’s ruling group decided to sign this treacherous agreement without having any discussion with Makarios. Only the pro-royal general Spantidakis put up any resistance, but Papadopoulos was immobile.
When Makarios was informed by the American ambassador to Cyprus that Athens had signed an agreement that, among other things, provided for the withdrawal of the Greek division, the emblematic president of the main island refused to do so. The obvious goal was to expose her meeting that she would be forced to do it herself. At the last minute and after tough negotiations with Vance, Makarios managed to prevent the dissolution of the National Guard. What he could not avoid was the national tragedy that would come a few years later with the invasion of “Attila” on a practically defenseless island.
Upon hearing the news of the withdrawal of the Greek division, George Papandreou, with obvious sarcastic humor, stressed: “The Corruption sent the Army of the Nation to Cyprus and the Army brings it back.”
“Der Spiegel” wrote on 4/12/1967: “The submission of the Greeks increased the appetite of the Turks.” Every time Mr. Vance visited, the wishes of the Turkish Prime Minister were presented. “Figaro wrote that” The The speed with which Greece hastened to accept the Turkish terms is incredible. “
Turkish Prime Minister S. Demirel later told a Greek interlocutor that “I expected the Greeks to retreat but not to be swept away”…
As for the … super-patriot Georgios Papadopoulos, when asked to answer questions from parliament on that agreement after first questioning the division’s ability to defend itself effectively, he said that he signed it because he wanted to avoid a war between Greece. and Turkey “Vance intervened and everyone else stopped. Representative of the President of the United States… What to do?!
[ad_2]
